Chapter Text
" … and we got them just after she turned 18, and it was great, happily ever after." Flower says with a huge grin, telling a wide-eyed Olli about the story of him and Vero. "I mean, she got hers first, mine was five minutes after. Hers was blank when they put it on, so that was a good sign. And then I got mine, and we kind of smiled at each other and they both just went to zero and started beeping right away, so…" Flower shrugs, "Yeah, we're soul mates. Scientifically proven."
"That's really cool." Olli sighs almost wistfully, "I wish mine would count down faster."
"Two years, man, that's not bad." Jussi ruffles Olli's hair affectionately, "Mine was 5."
"Hey, at least you know they're out there. Mine's just - " Sid sighs. This happens every single time the topic comes up, especially when there's a rookie involved. "It's just blank. It's been blank since I got it."
"Yeah, but the company didn't mind that, eh? Day after the interview when Sid said he has a blank TiMER, sales went up like, what was it, 8%? 10%?" Duper is grinning on the other side of the locker room, "All the girls who didn't have them before went out and bought them."
"Not just girls, eh?" Flower shouts as he jumps up from where he's sitting, "Plenty of boys too."
"Oh yeah, we had a lot of signs at the games just after that, 'Check your TiMER Sid', 'I got my TiMER for you, Sid'. It was crazy." Duper laughs again, and Sid throws his balled up socks at his winger.
"That's enough." Sid uses his best captain voice, "Come on, on ice boys, on ice now."
"Still blank?" Geno crowds up to Sid as everyone is exiting the locker room.
"Still blank." Sid confirms. He bumps Geno's shoulder a little on the way to the rink, then steps in front of the Russian to get on ice.
Sid got his TiMER when he turned 18, as most Canadians do. His entire family flew out and went with him for the special occasion. To say that he was disappointed when the TiMER blanked out the second it was attached to his arm would be a drastic understatement.
His parents met through the TiMER at a local hockey rink, and most of the people he knew in Cole Harbour (most adults) had it too. He knew that having a blank TiMER was always a possibility, but in the mind of 18-year-old Sid, it still sucked a lot.
"Now keep in mind that this doesn't mean they're not out there." His mom had said on the car ride back, "It just means that your soul mate doesn't have a TiMER. You may just have to wait a couple of years."
"Yeah I guess." Sid sat in the back seat, his fingers tracing over the little white strip the size of a band-aid that's now seamlessly attached to his forearm. "
Theoretically, the TiMER is supposed to count down to when Sid meets his soul mate. The doctor who activated the TiMER for him had patiently explained, "It only works if the two of you interact with each other, so if you're playing hockey and he or she is in the stands, it won't do anything."
"99.8% EFFECTIVE. CONNECTING SOULS EVERY DAY" The poster at the clinic had proudly proclaimed, underneath the white block letter was a picture of a couple holding hands and smiling incredibly wide, obviously in love.
Sid had rolled his eyes at how cheesy the picture looked, but had also been a little jealous. Since then, his TiMER has remained stubbornly blank. Sometimes Sid thinks maybe his soul mate doesn't exist. Maybe there's nobody out there for him, that the only thing he has is hockey. On those nights Sid wishes the TiMER was never invented.
Geno was the first over-18 person Sid met who voluntarily didn't get a TiMER. He finds out about this two months after Geno makes his grand escape and touches down in Pittsburgh. Flower was introducing Vero to Geno during lunch on an off day and telling his story of how they proved themselves to be soul mates with lots of hand gestures and pleading looks towards Sergei. Afterwards Geno smiles, pats Flower on the shoulder, and says something to Sergei.
"He says you lucky." Sergei translates dutifully, "But it must be broken because she way too good for you."
"Hey, you tell him he's not allowed to chirp unless he's chirping in English." Flower shouts amidst the laughter around the table, "What about you, fucker? When's your big day?"
Geno says something, and Sergei shoots him an incredulous look before translating, "He says he doesn't have a TiMER."
The awkward silence that blankets the table is almost palpable. Usually, when a person's soul mate passes away, the TiMER gets removed from the surviving individual.
Geno laughs and shakes his head, "No, not dead. I not want." Geno says in his still rough English, "Not need."
Any further prompts for question had been waved off with the same blank I-don't-understand-English look that Geno adopts with the media when he doesn't want to answer thing. Sergei had refused to translate any further, saying that in Russia it's rude to ask about such things (Sid finds out years later, from Ovechkin of all people, that it's not).
The day before James Neal and Matt Niskanen were scheduled to arrive in Pittsburgh, the locker room was buzzing with something else entirely. Paul's TiMER was counting down, and it's a matter of minutes before it hits zero.
Sid has never been present for a countdown before, so he stays after in the locker room for much longer than he usually does, waiting for it to happen.
"Well you're not going to meet her if he keep staying in here, Paulie." Kuni says from where's sitting, all packed up but showing no intention of leaving until Martin does, "You gotta get out of Consol and, I don't know, walk around the block or something."
"Oh yeah, bump into her and spill coffee all over her stuff, that's Kuni's way of doing it." Flower laughs, loud and obnoxious and comforting , "Literally spills everything on her, then apologizes and says he's nervous because he's about to meet his soul mate."
"It's supposed to happen naturally, right? I'm just supposed to do what I feel like and it'll happen. That's how it works." Paul says in the calming way he does, but Sid knows him well enough to see the way his shoulders are tensed up. "I'll just wait here."
"Paulie, should be more excited!" Geno shouts, he's sitting in the locker room like he's preparing to watch a good movie, "Why you not more excited?"
"I am," Paul says, and sits down with a heavy sigh, "I'm just…what if they don't want me…or, I don't know, what if the TiMER is defective - "
"Who would not want you?" Brooksy nudges his D partner, "Don’t be stupid, nobody ever says no to their soul mate."
"Yeah, but - " Paul starts, but is cut short by the locker room door opening.
"Oh, hey, sorry. I didn't think there would be anybody here." James Neal is standing at the door of the locker room with a mildly embarrassed look on his face, "Sorry, I was just walking around and …well…."
"No, it's not a problem." Sidney stands up from where he's standing and walks over to the newly traded winger, "Sorry, I would have met you outside but I thought you were coming in tomorrow."
"I was going to, yeah." James lets out a shaky laugh, "I mean, they told me to come tomorrow, you know? But I was just a little…uh…I had some energy so I thought I'd check the place out."
"Yeah, no, welcome." Sid puts on his best captain smile and shakes James's hand, "Come meet the boys." He refrains from mentioning Paulie's TiMER, though the wheels in his head have already started turning.
"Hey James," Flower stands up next, and then walks directly over to where Paul is sitting with a semi-terrified expression on his face, "Have you met Paulie? One of our best D-man."
"Hi, nice to meet you Paulie." James says, but his voice does not drown out the high-pitched 'beep-beep-beep' that's coming from both his and Paul's forearms.
"Oh thank god," James visibly sags with relief, "I was worried I'd be stuck with a girl for the rest of my life."
And then, happily ever after.
Sid kisses Geno for the first time after a devastating loss to the Flyers .The game itself had been bad enough, but sometime during the second period Giroux had made a snarky remark about Sid's lack of soul mate, and when they got back he had been frustrated and angry and sad.
And Geno, Geno had followed him back to his house, his new and empty house that's still cold and not-lived in, and Geno had looked at him with those hooded eyes and had put a hand on his shoulder and it had been so simple to just lean forward and …
…and then they were kissing. Geno's lips are soft, the hand that cups Sid's cheek is callused, but gentle. Geno licks into Sid's mouth, there's a hand in his hair and Sid can still smell the faint scent of shampoo that Geno uses.
And after that it had been easy to fall into bed with Geno. Geno who was patient and gentle but never soft and never shy about asking for exactly what he wants.
The first time Sid wonders if Geno could be his soul mate is a month after that first kiss. They're lying on Geno's couch, watching whatever new HGTV show that Geno is addicted to that week. A couple on TV is arguing about hardwood floors and storage space and Sid's not really paying attention. He's got his head resting on Geno's shoulder and Geno is feeding him grapes while simultaneously running a hand through Sid's hair.
"Should have you on TV, show world Sidney Crosby know nothing about house." Geno says.
"Nah, they don't want me." The show seems to focus on soul mates who have met recently, whose TiMERs have only counted down the previous week. "I have a blank."
Geno makes a frustrated noise, and tugs on Sid's hair a little, "I tell already, it not matter."
"But what if I just don't have a soul mate." Sid says, exasperated, "What if I'm destined to just … to just spend the rest of my life alone with just my stupid big empty house that doesn't have, I don't know, hardwood floors and granite counters?"
"You have hardwood and granite." Geno says, his accent heavy, "Not worry."
"But G - " Sid starts again, sitting up from where he's leaning on Geno, but is immediately pulled back down.
"You have me. Not alone." Geno says.
"Well yeah," Sid says, noting and saving his flush of pleasure for later analysis, "but what about after we retire, after hockey? You'll want to be in Russia and I don't even know where I'm going to - "
"Can stay here if you want." Geno says, and starts running his hand through Sid's hair again, "Is no problem."
"That doesn't solve the problem of you being in Russia." Sid says, he can feel the frustration in his tone, and he saves that for analysis later too.
"No, I be here, if you want." Geno says, one of his hand moves down Sid's arm and traces Sid's TiMER, "You own team then, give me job as security guard. I stay with you."
"What… " Sid tries to sit up again so he can turn and face Geno face to face, but is again pulled back so he's lying half on top of Geno, his back flush against Geno's chest.
"You not want, I go back to Russia." Geno says, "But I stay if you want."
"I …" Sid pauses, and the idea enters his mind that this is it, Geno must be his soul mate. It makes sense, Geno doesn't a TiMER, and Sid's is blank. "Would you get a TiMER ever?"
"You think we soul mates?" Geno asks, his tone cautious.
"Maybe? I mean, it's not impossible, right?" Sid says, he can feel himself tensing up and can feel Geno tensing behind him too, "We could be."
"If we soul mates," Geno says, and pauses as he searches for his words, "We know. Not need TiMER. I not want get."
"Geno…" Sid sighs, "But then we could be sure… we could … we could save a lot of time and guessing."
"Sid not like spend time with me?" Geno asks.
"No I do. I do, G." Sid rubs his eyes, suddenly wishing he had a better way with words than he actually does, "It's fine, if you don't want to then you don't have to. I was just asking."
They drop the topic in favor of watching HouseHunters International, and Geno gets unreasonably excited when a family is moving to Moscow, but the idea has taken root in Sid's mind, and he doesn't let it go.